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Bruce Arians won't use option offense with Cardinals

INDIANAPOLIS — Very little is certain at this point about who will be the starting quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals in 2013. But no matter if it ends up being Kevin Kolb or John Skelton or Ryan Lindley or

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INDIANAPOLIS — Very little is certain at this point about who will be the starting quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals in 2013.

But no matter if it ends up being Kevin Kolb or John Skelton or Ryan Lindley or a not-yet-acquired veteran or a rookie to be named later, new Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said Thursday his quarterback won't be running a spread or option system.

Arians, who as an assistant coach previously coached quarterbacks Andrew Luck, Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning, called the option offenses being used by the division rival San Francisco 49ers (with Colin Kaepernick) and Seattle Seahawks (with Russell Wilson) a "trend."

"I'm not a believer in putting my quarterback in harm's way," Arians said. "I think harm will come to them. I'm more of a traditionalist."

Arians believes defensive coordinators around the league, and especially his own (Todd Bowles), will spend much of the offseason focused on devising ways to stop players like Wilson, Kaepernick and Washington Redskins offensive rookie of the year Robert Griffin III. Arizona's draft and free agency plan will include trying to build a defense better suited for playing a quarter of the Cardinals' games against Kaepernick and Wilson.

"We've got a good, fast, young defense, so we've got a leg up. We've just got to get faster and tougher," Arians said.